Study Finds Twice-Yearly Lenacapavir Reduces HIV Infection When Used For PrEP In Cisgender Men, Transgender Or Gender-Nonbinary Persons

The AP (12/1, Cheng, Verza) reports a “twice-yearly shot was 100% effective in preventing HIV infections in a study of women, and results published Wednesday show it worked nearly as well in men.” Drug manufacturer “Gilead said it will allow cheap, generic versions to be sold in 120 poor countries with high HIV rates – mostly in Africa, Southeast Asia and the Caribbean.” However, “it has excluded nearly all of Latin America, where rates are far lower but increasing, sparking concern the world is missing a critical opportunity to stop the disease.” The drug named “lenacapavir is already sold under the brand name Sunlenca to treat HIV infections in the U.S., Canada, Europe and elsewhere.” Gilead “plans to seek authorization soon for Sunlenca to be used for HIV prevention.” MedPage Today (11/27, Phend) reported, “Twice-yearly lenacapavir (Sunlenca) substantially reduced HIV infection when used for preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in cisgender men and transgender or gender-nonbinary persons in the pivotal PURPOSE 2 trial.” Researchers found that “injections every 26 weeks cut the rate of HIV infections by a relative 89% compared with daily oral emtricitabine-tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (F/TDF, Truvada), with rates of 0.10 versus 0.93 per 100 person-years.” The findings were published in The New England Journal of Medicine.